Greek tragedy
Oedipus's dramatic form
Greek tragedy is the dramatic form developed in ancient Athens during the 5th century BCE, featuring noble characters confronting fate, moral dilemmas, and downfall.
The major tragedians—Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides—established conventions still referenced today: the tragic hero, the fatal flaw, the chorus.
In casual use, Greek tragedy describes any situation of inevitable, dramatic catastrophe: Their marriage became a Greek tragedy.
Father of tragedy
- SophoclesClassical Athenian playwright
- EuripidesGreek tragic dramatist
- AthensGreece's capital city
- amphitheaterOpen-air tiered venue
Delphi · skene · orchestra · theatron · polis · classical · Athenian · Hellenistic
Ruinous excessive confidence
- hamartiaFatal error causing downfall
- catharsisPurification through emotional expression
- ateTook in nourishment
- nemesisPersistent source of ruin
pathos · reversal · recognition · downfall · suffering · pity · fear · purification
Tragic Greek king
- AntigoneTheban princess who honored forbidden burial
- ClytemnestraGreek queen, husband-slayer
- AgamemnonMycenaean king, war leader
- OrestesMatricidal prince of myth
Electra · Medea · Creon · Jocasta · Tiresias · Cassandra · Iphigenia · Prometheus
Singers performing together
- protagonistStory's central figure
- antagonistOne who opposes another
- prologueIntroductory literary section
- exodusMass departure from somewhere
episode · strophe · antistrophe · mask · tragedian · trilogy · theatron · orchestra
Aeschylus
Father of tragedy
amphitheater · Delphi · skene · orchestra · theatron · polis · classical · Athenian · Hellenistic · trilogy
hubris
Ruinous excessive confidence
- hamartiaFatal error causing downfall
- catharsisPurification through emotional expression
- ateTook in nourishment
nemesis · pathos · reversal · recognition · downfall · suffering · pity · fear · purification · fate
Oedipus
Tragic Greek king
- AntigoneTheban princess who honored forbidden burial
- ClytemnestraGreek queen, husband-slayer
- AgamemnonMycenaean king, war leader
Orestes · Electra · Medea · Creon · Jocasta · Tiresias · Cassandra · Iphigenia · Prometheus · Heracles
chorus
Singers performing together
- protagonistStory's central figure
- antagonistOne who opposes another
- prologueIntroductory literary section
exodus · episode · strophe · antistrophe · mask · tragedian · trilogy · theatron · orchestra · unities
Oedipus Rex
Ancient drama of prophecy fulfilled
- AntigoneTheban princess who honored forbidden burial
- MedeaMythical infanticidal sorceress
- AgamemnonMycenaean king, war leader
Electra · Seven Against Thebes · Hippolytus · Iphigenia · Ajax
- Ancient Greek literatureIliad, Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Medea
- Theater Studiestheater history, theatre criticism, drama studies, dramaturgy, playwriting
- performing artsacting, dance, music, drama, theater
- dramaTV drama, acting, television drama, drama school, playwright
- Greek cultureGreece, Hellenism, Parthenon, Acropolis, Zeus
- literary formsnovel, novels, novella, poetry, poetry collections
Greek tragedyGreek comedy
Humorous ancient Athenian drama
Old Comedy · farce · burlesque · satire · comedy
Greek tragedyhappy ending
Story concludes well
success · triumph · romantic comedy · happily ever after · wish fulfillment
tragic, tragedy, Greek, tragedies, tragically, tragicomedy, tragical, tragicomedies